Producers busy combining crops in southeast Sask. region

Producers are busy in the fields combining or swathing crops that are finally ready for harvest, with hot, dry weather over the long weekend helping crops to finish maturing and enabling harvest to continue.

There were rain showers the previous week, which delayed harvest and held crops back from ripening and drying down.

Marcel van Staveren, who farms with his two brothers in the Creelman-Griffin-Fillmore areas, said they are about half done harvest operations on their farm, as they are wrapping up their durum crops this week, and will be moving on to canola hopefully by Sept. 25.

A number of producers have noted their canola crops are still very green and there are worries about an early frost in September.

Harvest in the southeast region was at 16 per cent overall in the southeast, prior to the long weekend, with many combines out in the fields over the weekend and into this week. Another 11 per cent of the crop is swathed for ready to straight cut.

In the Weyburn area (2A crop district), harvest is 18 per cent done, and in the Radville-Lake Alma area (3ASE crop district) they are further along at 36 per cent.

Of the crops they have harvested so far, van Staveren said their red lentils are top grade in quality, but have below average yields.

Their durum crops range from No. 1 to No. 3 in quality, with above-average yields, and they are expecting their canola crops to be top grade in quality with above-average yields.

Looking at the harvest by crop in the southeast, winter wheat is 84 per cent combined with 13 per cent still standing in fields, with fall rye 69 per cent combined and 26 per cent in the field.